Monticello and the Civil War

From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

The Civil War had been underway for
less than a year before casting its long dark
shadow on Jefferson's "little mountain." In
1862 the authorities of the secessionist government
in Virginia seized the house as alien
property. This lasted until the post-war era
when such seizures were returned to their
rightful owners. The house was given back
to the heirs of Captain Uriah Phillips Levy
who had died in New York City on March
22, 1862.

The paucity of public records dealimg with
local administration in Albemarle County
makes it difficult to trace the history of
Monticello during these years. The people
active in county administration were little
known before September, 1864. After this
date, however, it is easier to assemble a cast
of characters and piece together the Monticello
story.

Visitors' accounts prove that the property
was in the hands of Uriah Levy, or of his
representatives as late as August, 1861. But
even then local residents were restive and
they talked of taking away the property and
not permitting Levy to return. Physical
possession was taken between August, 1861,
and February 8, 1862, under the Seqnestration
Act and not as tax delinquent property
as was the practice in similar situations.
The initial attempt by local authorities was
blocked for a time by George Carr, acting as executor of Levy's estate. This resulted in
a suit before the District Court of the Confederate
States of America for the Eastern
District of Virginia, sitting in Richmond.
And since Joel Wheeler was living at Monticello,
he was included as a party to the suit,
Confederate States of America us. George
Carr and Joel N. Wheeler.

The case was heard in the Confederate
capital in late September, 1864, and decision
was rendered on the twenty-seventh.
Henry L. Brooke, Receiver for District No.
3, was directed to sell at public auction "on
the premises and for cash in Confederate
treasury notes of the new issue the following
real and personal estate the property of
Captain U. P. Levy, deceased, an alien:"

1. Monticello, a tract of 218 acres of land . . . with all buildings thereon, consisting
of a large commodious Brick
Dwelling House, with a variety of outbuildings
. . .

2. After the Sale of the real estate there
will be sold at the same time and on
same terms, nineteen Negro slaves, a
variety of household Furniture, Farming
utensils, Horses, Cattle, Sheep,
Hogs . . .

The sale was held Thursday, November
17, under direction of D. M. Pattie, a Confederate
Marshall living in Charlottesville.
The house and farm buildings along with
the acreage were bid in by Benjamin F.
Ficklin of Albemarle County for the inflated
figure of $80,500. Ficklin's reasons for
buying are not known, hut a Harper's Weekly
news note stated that he would present the
property "to the State." Ficklin held title
for only six months, until the fall of the
Confederacy in April, 1865, after which all
confiscated property reverted to previous
owners.

There are few records about the condition
of the house while it was held by the
Confederates. Neither of the standbys of
local history, Woods, Albemarle County, nor
James Alexander, Early Charlottesville, allude
to Monticello at this time. Only Edward
C. Mead in his Historic Homes of the Southwest
Mountains makes a brief and unsupported
statement:

During the Civil War it was confiscated
by the Confederate Government
and fell into rapid decay; at one time
being used as a hospital . . .

The only account of any length is found in
the suspect volume, G. A. Townsend,
Monticello and its Preservation, published,
and probably written, by Jefferson M. Levy,
Uriah's nephew:

But finally the Commodore's slaves were
sold, and the dismantling of the furniture
began, the losses were amounting
to several hundred thousand dollars.
Soldiers broke off the carved sculpture
of many mantels. Other people peddled
the bust of Voltaire by Houdon and
several similar treasures to rlch men In
New York. Captain Jonas P. Levy,
when he visited the place to save it
from confiscation, was held as a
hostage . . .

Miss Sarah Stickler, a young visitor late
in the summer of 1864 has left her impressions:

The place was once very pretty, but it
has gone to ruin now. It is the property
of Commodore Levi I believe. There
is a large clock in the hall, you get up
to wind it by means of a ladder. The
parlour retains but little of its former
elegance, the ball room is on the second
floor, and has a thousand names
scratched over its walls . . . There are
some roses in the yard that have turned
wild, and those are the only flowers. . .
The family burying ground shows the
same want of attention that the house
and grounds do . . .

Another interesting and untold episode of
this time is the disposition of the furnishings
after the seizure by the Confederate government.
Which pieces, if any, were removed
by Confederate soldiers, as claimed by Townsend,
which went under Deputy Pattie's
hammer at the November 17 sale, and which
remained unsold are unanswered questions
and are likely to remain so.

Townsend believes there was a substantial
amount of furniture in the house in 1862,
much of it Jefferson's. Unfortunately, the
only item specifically mentioned is a "Bust
of Voltaire and similar treasures." Probably
three of the "similar treasures" were the
pier mirrors attached to the walls of the
parlour, the folding ladder in the hall, and
the Great Clock above the entrance door.
There is no evidence to suggest that Uriah
Levy owned other Jefferson furnishings.

The oft-repeated story that Confederate
soldiers (who were as capable as any others
in such matters) looted the house and carried
away thousands of dollars worth of furniture
has no basis in fact. There is nothing to
support the claim that soldiers were ever
on the premises either as a detachment of
the Confederate armed forces or otherwise.

Another aspect of the Monticello story,
the contesting of Uriah Levy's will and the
question of the legal disposition of his estate,
began to unfold at this time. In 1863, the
heirs challenged the will in a New York State
court while the United States Senate considered
the possibility of taking over Monticello
and running it as an agricultural school
for the orphaned sons of Naval warrant officers,
as Levy had requested. The question
of establishing legal title to Monticello was
extremely complex and not finally resolved
until 1879, long after the demise of the
Confederacy. Given the limitations of space
and the chronological boundaries established
for this article, this next phase of Monticello's
history must be left for another time.

Original Author: James A. Bear, Jr.; originally published as a Monticello Keepsake, April 12, 1970.